Medication stocks at some Royal Adelaide Hospital wards are dangerous low, staff warn

MEDICATION stocks on some wards at the Royal Adelaide Hospital are at dangerously low levels, putting patients at risk, staff have warned.

MEDICATION stocks on some wards at the Royal Adelaide Hospital are at dangerously low levels, putting patients at risk, staff have warned.

Nurses say the cutting-edge robotic drug dispensing machines, implemented specifically to save time and reduce mistakes, are only being stocked with enough medication to last eight hours in some cases, when they should be stocked with enough supply to last at least 24 hours.

The latest issues at the $2.3 billion hospital come as frustrated staff report being continuously locked out of staff lockers and patient security concerns, with wards not automatically locking at night when they should.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation chief executive officer adjunct Professor Elizabeth Dabars said the pharmacy situation presented a risk to patients.

“The problem is both a risk in terms of not having available stock as and when you need it (and) it’s inefficient,” she said.

“The whole point of the new hospital was to increase efficiency, making sure that people could obtain their treatment as and when they need it.”

Prof Dabars said the solution involved “a combination of understanding the devices and providing stock that is necessary to meet the demand needs of particular wards and units.”

She told The Advertiser said it was “concerning” there were “a number of issues across the hospital”.

Drug levels in some wards are at dangerously low levels, staff say. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

She believed the issues were partly due to the fact the State Government had entered into a private-public partnership.

“It appears to us, the concerns and issues relate to catering, security and supplies — all of which relate to the private aspect,” she said.

Prof Dabars said other problems within the RAH included some of the ward doors not automatically locking after-hours to keep patients safe.

“Apparently there have been some areas the automatic lock down system hasn’t been operating (but) as far as we’re aware, they’re basically going around and manually checking,” she said.

Prof Dabars said another issue included a glitch with staff lockers, which meant staff were being forced to call maintenance staff to help them access personal belongings and case notes because they were being regularly locked out.

She said she believed the issue had recently been resolved. Central Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive officer Jenny Richter admitted the RAH move presented “some challenges”.

She did not answer specific questions posed by The Advertiser. “We have introduced escalation processes to ensure any minor issues can be resolved quickly,” she said.